Contribution of Awns to Seed Yield and Seed Shattering in Siberian Wildrye Grown under Irrigated and Rainfed Environments
The seed yield of grass species is greatly dependent on inflorescence morphological traits, starting with spikelets per inflorescence and seeds per spikelet, to kernel size, and then to awns. Previous studies have attempted to estimate the contribution of these traits on the harvested yield of major...
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MDPI AG
2021-11-01
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| Series: | Agronomy |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/11/11/2219 |
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| author | Fabrice Ntakirutimana Yiyang Wan Wenhui Liu Wengang Xie |
| author_facet | Fabrice Ntakirutimana Yiyang Wan Wenhui Liu Wengang Xie |
| author_sort | Fabrice Ntakirutimana |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The seed yield of grass species is greatly dependent on inflorescence morphological traits, starting with spikelets per inflorescence and seeds per spikelet, to kernel size, and then to awns. Previous studies have attempted to estimate the contribution of these traits on the harvested yield of major cereal crops, but little information can be accessed on the influence of awns on seed yield of forage grass species. Siberian wildrye (<i>Elymus sibiricus</i> L.) is a widely important perennial forage grass used to increase forage production in arid and semi-arid grasslands. The grass has long inflorescences with long awns developed at the tip end of the lemmas in the florets. In order to evaluate the effect of awns on Siberian wildrye seed production, awn excision analyses from 10 accessions were performed at flowering stage under irrigated and rainfed regimes. Overall, awn excision reduced thousand-seed weight and seed size under both irrigated and rainfed regimes, which decreased final seed yield per plant. De-awned plants produced significantly more seeds per inflorescence, but spikelets per inflorescence was not influenced by awn excision in either condition. Moreover, histological analyses showed a high degradation of the abscission layer in the awned plants than de-awned ones, and awn excision evidently improved average seed breaking tensile strength (BTS), and thus decreased the degree of seed shattering. In conclusion, the observed significant impact of awn excision on different yield-related traits mirrored the impact of awns on the performance of Siberian wildrye under diverse growing conditions. These results provide useful information for plant breeders, seed producers, and researchers to efficiently improve seed production in Siberian wildrye. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T05:46:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-24a93182143744d0b90dc9a12095dbdd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4395 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T05:46:50Z |
| publishDate | 2021-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Agronomy |
| spelling | doaj.art-24a93182143744d0b90dc9a12095dbdd2023-11-22T22:02:18ZengMDPI AGAgronomy2073-43952021-11-011111221910.3390/agronomy11112219Contribution of Awns to Seed Yield and Seed Shattering in Siberian Wildrye Grown under Irrigated and Rainfed EnvironmentsFabrice Ntakirutimana0Yiyang Wan1Wenhui Liu2Wengang Xie3State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, Key Laboratory of Grassland Livestock Industry Innovation, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730020, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, Key Laboratory of Grassland Livestock Industry Innovation, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730020, ChinaKey Laboratory of Superior Forage Germplasm in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, Qinghai Academy of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Xining 810008, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, Key Laboratory of Grassland Livestock Industry Innovation, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730020, ChinaThe seed yield of grass species is greatly dependent on inflorescence morphological traits, starting with spikelets per inflorescence and seeds per spikelet, to kernel size, and then to awns. Previous studies have attempted to estimate the contribution of these traits on the harvested yield of major cereal crops, but little information can be accessed on the influence of awns on seed yield of forage grass species. Siberian wildrye (<i>Elymus sibiricus</i> L.) is a widely important perennial forage grass used to increase forage production in arid and semi-arid grasslands. The grass has long inflorescences with long awns developed at the tip end of the lemmas in the florets. In order to evaluate the effect of awns on Siberian wildrye seed production, awn excision analyses from 10 accessions were performed at flowering stage under irrigated and rainfed regimes. Overall, awn excision reduced thousand-seed weight and seed size under both irrigated and rainfed regimes, which decreased final seed yield per plant. De-awned plants produced significantly more seeds per inflorescence, but spikelets per inflorescence was not influenced by awn excision in either condition. Moreover, histological analyses showed a high degradation of the abscission layer in the awned plants than de-awned ones, and awn excision evidently improved average seed breaking tensile strength (BTS), and thus decreased the degree of seed shattering. In conclusion, the observed significant impact of awn excision on different yield-related traits mirrored the impact of awns on the performance of Siberian wildrye under diverse growing conditions. These results provide useful information for plant breeders, seed producers, and researchers to efficiently improve seed production in Siberian wildrye.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/11/11/2219abscission layerawns<i>Elymus sibiricus</i>grassesinflorescence morphologyphotosynthesis |
| spellingShingle | Fabrice Ntakirutimana Yiyang Wan Wenhui Liu Wengang Xie Contribution of Awns to Seed Yield and Seed Shattering in Siberian Wildrye Grown under Irrigated and Rainfed Environments Agronomy abscission layer awns <i>Elymus sibiricus</i> grasses inflorescence morphology photosynthesis |
| title | Contribution of Awns to Seed Yield and Seed Shattering in Siberian Wildrye Grown under Irrigated and Rainfed Environments |
| title_full | Contribution of Awns to Seed Yield and Seed Shattering in Siberian Wildrye Grown under Irrigated and Rainfed Environments |
| title_fullStr | Contribution of Awns to Seed Yield and Seed Shattering in Siberian Wildrye Grown under Irrigated and Rainfed Environments |
| title_full_unstemmed | Contribution of Awns to Seed Yield and Seed Shattering in Siberian Wildrye Grown under Irrigated and Rainfed Environments |
| title_short | Contribution of Awns to Seed Yield and Seed Shattering in Siberian Wildrye Grown under Irrigated and Rainfed Environments |
| title_sort | contribution of awns to seed yield and seed shattering in siberian wildrye grown under irrigated and rainfed environments |
| topic | abscission layer awns <i>Elymus sibiricus</i> grasses inflorescence morphology photosynthesis |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/11/11/2219 |
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